History[edit]
Before the Voortrekkers[edit]
Europeans first visited the country north of the
Orange RiverOrange River towards
the close of the 18th century. At that time, the population was
sparse. The majority of the inhabitants appear to have been members of
the
Tswana peopleTswana people (also spelled Bechuana), but in the valleys of the
Orange and Vaal were Koranbas and other Khoikhois, and in the
DrakensbergDrakensberg and on the western border lived numbers of San (Bushmen).
Early in the
19th century19th century Griquas established themselves north of the
Orange.
Boer immigration[edit]
In 1824 farmers of Dutch, French Huguenot and German descent known as
VoortrekkersVoortrekkers (later named
BoersBoers by the English) walked from the Cape
Colony, seeking pasture for their flocks and to escape British
governmental oversight, settling in the country. Up to this time the
few Europeans who had crossed the Orange had come mainly as hunters or
as missionaries. These early migrants were followed in 1836 by the
first parties of the Great Trek. These emigrants left the Cape Colony
for various reasons, but all shared the desire for independence from
British authority. The leader of the first large party, A. H.
Potgieter, concluded an agreement with Makwana, the chief of the
Bataung tribe of Batswana, ceding to the farmers the country between
the Vet and Vaal rivers.[4] When Boer families first reached the area
they discovered that the country had been devastated by the chief
MzilikaziMzilikazi and his Matabele in the genocide known as the Mfecane, and
large areas were depopulated.[4] The
BoersBoers soon came into collision
with Mzilikazi's raiding parties, which attacked Boer hunters who
crossed the Vaal River. Reprisals followed, and in November 1837 the
BoersBoers decisively defeated Mzilikazi, who thereupon fled northward[4]
and eventually established himself on the site of the future Bulawayo
in Zimbabwe.[citation needed]
In the meantime another party of Cape Dutch emigrants had settled at
Thaba Nchu, where the
WesleyansWesleyans had a mission station for the
Barolong. The emigrants were treated with great kindness by Moroka II,
the chief of that tribe, and with the
Barolong the
BoersBoers maintained
uniformly friendly relations after they defeated Mzilikazi. In
December 1836 the emigrants beyond the Orange drew up in general
assembly an elementary republican form of government. After the defeat
of
MzilikaziMzilikazi the town of
WinburgWinburg (so named by the
BoersBoers in
commemoration of their victory) was founded, a
VolksraadVolksraad elected, and
Piet Retief, one of the ablest of the Voortrekkers, chosen "governor
and commandant-general". The emigrants already numbered some 500 men,
besides women and children and many servants. Dissensions speedily
arose among the emigrants, whose numbers were constantly added to, and
Retief, Potgieter and other leaders crossed the
DrakensbergDrakensberg and
entered Natal. Those that remained were divided into several
parties.[6]
British rule[edit]
Meanwhile, a new power had arisen along the upper Orange and in the
valley of the Caledon. Moshoeshoe, a
BasothoBasotho king, had welded together
a number of scattered and broken clans which had sought refuge in that
mountainous region after fleeing from Mzilikazi, and had formed the
BasothoBasotho nation. In 1833 he had welcomed as workers among his people a
band of French Protestant missionaries, and as the Boer immigrants
began to settle in his neighborhood he decided to seek support from
the British at the Cape. At that time the British government was not
prepared to exercise control over the immigrants. Acting upon the
advice of John Philip, the superintendent of the
LondonLondon Missionary
Society's stations in South Africa, a treaty was concluded in 1843
with Moshoeshoe, placing him under British protection. A similar
treaty was made with the Griqua chief, Adam Kok III. By these
treaties, which recognised native sovereignty over large areas on
which Boer farmers were settled, the British sought to keep a check on
the
BoersBoers and to protect both the natives and Cape Colony. The effect
was to precipitate collisions between all three parties.[6]
The year in which the treaty with Moshoeshoe was made, several large
parties of
BoersBoers recrossed the
DrakensbergDrakensberg into the country north of
the Orange, refusing to remain in Natal when the British annexed the
newly formed Boer
RepublicRepublic of Natalia to form the Colony of Natal.
During their stay in Natal the
BoersBoers inflicted a severe defeat on the
Zulus under Dingaan in the
Battle of Blood RiverBattle of Blood River in December 1838,
which, following on the flight of Mzilikazi, greatly strengthened the
position of Moshoeshoe, whose power became a menace to that of the
Boer farmers. Trouble first arose, however, between the
BoersBoers and the
Griquas in the
PhilippolisPhilippolis district. Some of the Boer farmers in this
district, unlike their fellows dwelling farther north, were willing to
accept British rule. This fact induced Mr Justice Menzies, one of the
judges of
Cape ColonyCape Colony then on circuit at Colesberg, to cross the
Orange and proclaim the country British territory in October 1842. The
proclamation was disallowed by the governor, Sir George Napier, who,
nevertheless, maintained that the Boer farmers remained British
subjects. After this episode the British negotiated their treaties
with
Adam Kok IIIAdam Kok III and Moshoeshoe.[6]
The treaties gave great offense to the Boers, who refused to
acknowledge the sovereignty of the native chiefs. The majority of the
Boer farmers in Kok's territory sent a deputation to the British
commissioner in Natal, Henry Cloete, asking for equal treatment with
the Griquas, and expressing the desire to come under British
protection under such terms. Shortly afterwards hostilities between
the farmers and the Griquas broke out. British troops moved up to
support the Griquas, and after a skirmish at Zwartkopjes (2 May 1845)
a new arrangement was made between Kok and Peregrine Maitland, then
governor of Cape Colony, virtually placing the administration of his
territory in the hands of a British resident, a post filled in 1846 by
Captain Henry Douglas Warden. The place chosen by Captain (afterwards
Major) Warden as the seat of his court was known as Bloemfontein, and
it subsequently became the capital of the whole country.[6]
Boer governance[edit]
The
VolksraadVolksraad at
WinburgWinburg during this period continued to claim
jurisdiction over the
BoersBoers living between the Orange and the Vaal and
was in federation with the
VolksraadVolksraad at Potchefstroom, which made a
similar claim upon the Great
BoersBoers living north of the Vaal. In 1846
Major Warden occupied
WinburgWinburg for a short time, and the relations
between the
BoersBoers and the British were in a continual state of
tension. Many of the farmers deserted
WinburgWinburg for the Transvaal. Sir
Harry Smith became governor of the Cape at the end of 1847. He
recognised the failure of the attempt to govern on the lines of the
treaties with the Griquas and Basothos, and on 3 February 1848 he
issued a proclamation declaring British sovereignty over the country
between the Orange and the Vaal eastward to the Drakensberg. Sir Harry
Smith's popularity among the
BoersBoers gained for his policy considerable
support, but the republican party, at whose head was Andries
Pretorius, did not submit without a struggle. They were, however,
defeated by Sir Harry Smith in the
Battle of BoomplaatsBattle of Boomplaats on 29 August
1848. Thereupon Pretorius, with those most bitterly opposed to British
rule, retreated across the Vaal.[6]
Orange RiverOrange River Sovereignty[edit]
Main article:
Orange RiverOrange River Sovereignty
In March 1849 Major Warden was succeeded at
BloemfonteinBloemfontein as civil
commissioner by Mr C. U. Stuart, but he remained the British resident
until July 1852. A nominated legislative council was created, a high
court established and other steps taken for the orderly government of
the country, which was officially styled the
Orange RiverOrange River Sovereignty.
In October 1849 Moshoeshoe was induced to sign a new arrangement
considerably curtailing the boundaries of the
BasothoBasotho reserve. The
frontier towards the Sovereignty was thereafter known as the Warden
line. A little later the reserves of other chieftains were precisely
defined.[6]
The
British ResidentBritish Resident had, however, no force sufficient to maintain his
authority, and Moshoeshoe and all the neighboring clans became
involved in hostilities with one another and with the Europeans. In
1851 Moshoeshoe joined the republican party in the Sovereignty in an
invitation to Pretorius to recross the Vaal. The intervention of
Pretorius resulted in the
Sand River ConventionSand River Convention of 1852, which
acknowledged the independence of the Transvaal but left the status of
the Sovereignty untouched. The British government (under the first
Russell administration), which had reluctantly agreed to the
annexation of the country, had, however, already repented its decision
and had resolved to abandon the Sovereignty. Lord Henry Grey,
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, in a dispatch to Sir
Harry Smith dated 21 October 1851, declared, "The ultimate abandonment
of the Orange Sovereignty should be a settled point in our policy."[6]
A meeting of representatives of all European inhabitants of the
Sovereignty, elected on manhood suffrage, held at
BloemfonteinBloemfontein in June
1852, nevertheless declared in favour of the retention of British
rule. At the close of that year a settlement was at length concluded
with Moshoeshoe, which left, perhaps, that chief in a stronger
position than he had hitherto been. There had been ministerial changes
in
EnglandEngland and the Aberdeen ministry, then in power, adhered to the
determination to withdraw from the Sovereignty. Sir George Russell
Clerk was sent out in 1853 as special commissioner "for the settling
and adjusting of the affairs" of the Sovereignty, and in August of
that year he summoned a meeting of delegates to determine upon a form
of self-government.[6]
At that time there were some 15,000 Europeans in the country, many of
them recent immigrants from Cape Colony. There were among them numbers
of farmers and tradesmen of British descent. The majority of the
whites still wished for the continuance of British rule provided that
it was effective and the country guarded against its enemies. The
representations of their delegates, who drew up a proposed
constitution retaining British control, were unavailing. Sir George
Clerk announced that, as the elected delegates were unwilling to take
steps to form an independent government, he would enter into
negotiations with other persons. " And then," wrote George McCall
Theal, "was seen forced the strange spectacle of an English
commissioner addressing men who wished to be free of British control
as the friendly and well-disposed inhabitants, while for those who
desired to remain British subjects and who claimed that protection to
which they believed themselves entitled he had no sympathising
word."[7] While the elected delegates sent two members to
EnglandEngland to
try and induce the government to alter their decision, Sir George
Clerk speedily came to terms with a committee formed by the republican
party and presided over by Mr J. H. Hoffman. Even before this
committee met a royal proclamation had been signed (30 January 1854)
"abandoning and renouncing all dominion" in the Sovereignty.[6]
The
Orange RiverOrange River Convention, recognising the independence of the
country, was signed at
BloemfonteinBloemfontein on 23 February by Sir George Clerk
and the republican committee, and in March the Boer government assumed
office and the republican flag was hoisted. Five days later the
representatives of the elected delegates had an interview in London
with the colonial secretary, the Duke of Newcastle, who informed them
that it was now too late to discuss the question of the retention of
British rule. The colonial secretary added that it was impossible for
EnglandEngland to supply troops to constantly advancing outposts, "especially
as
Cape TownCape Town and the port of
Table BayTable Bay were all she really required in
South Africa." In withdrawing from the Sovereignty the British
government declared that it had "no alliance with any native chief or
tribes to the northward of the
Orange RiverOrange River with the exception of the
Griqua chief Captain Adam Kok [III]". Kok was not formidable in a
military sense, nor could he prevent individual Griquas from
alienating their lands. Eventually, in 1861, he sold his sovereign
rights to the Free State for £4000 and moved with his followers to
the district later known as Griqualand East.[6]
On the abandonment of British rule, representatives of the people were
elected and met at
BloemfonteinBloemfontein on 28 March 1854, and between then and
18 April were engaged in framing a constitution. The country was
declared a republic and named the Orange Free State. All persons of
European blood possessing a six months' residential qualification were
to be granted full burgher rights. The sole legislative authority was
vested in a single popularly elected chamber of the Volksraad.
Executive authority was entrusted to a president elected by the
burghers from a list submitted by the Volksraad. The president was to
be assisted by an executive council, was to hold office for five years
and was eligible for re-election. The constitution was subsequently
modified but remained of a liberal character. A residence of five
years in the country was required before aliens could become
naturalised. The first president was Josias Philip Hoffman, but he was
accused of being too complaisant towards Moshoeshoe and resigned,
being succeeded in 1855 by Jacobus Nicolaas Boshoff, one of the
voortrekkers, who had previously taken an active part in the affairs
of the Natalia Republic.[6]
Conflict with the South African Republic[edit]
Distracted among themselves, with the formidable
BasothoBasotho power on
their southern and eastern flank, the troubles of the infant state
were speedily added to by the action of the Transvaal
BoersBoers of the
South African Republic. Marthinus Pretorius, who had succeeded to his
father's position as commandant general of Potchefstroom, wished to
bring about a confederation between the two Boer states. Peaceful
overtures from Pretorius were declined, and some of his partisans in
the Free State were accused of treason in February 1857. Thereupon
Pretorius, aided by Paul Kruger, conducted a raid into the Free State
territory. On learning of the invasion President Jacobus Nicolaas
Boshoff proclaimed martial law throughout the country. The majority of
the burghers rallied to his support, and on 25 May the two opposing
forces faced one another on the banks of the Rhenoster. President
Boshoff not only got together some 800 men within the Free State, but
he received offers of support from Commandant Stephanus Schoeman, the
Transvaal leader in the
ZoutpansbergZoutpansberg district and from Commandant
Joubert of Lydenburg. Pretorius and Kruger, realising that they would
have to sustain attack from both north and south, abandoned their
enterprise. Their force, too, only amounted to some three hundred.
Kruger came to Boshoff's camp with a flag of truce, the "army" of
Pretorius returned north and on 2 June a treaty of peace was signed,
each state acknowledging the absolute independence of the other.[6]
The conduct of Pretorius was stigmatised as "blameworthy." Several of
the malcontents in the Free State who had joined Pretorius permanently
settled in the Transvaal, and other Free Staters who had been guilty
of high treason were arrested and punished. This experience did not,
however, heal the party strife within the Free State. In consequence
of the dissensions among the burghers President Boshoff tendered his
resignation in February 1858, but was for a time induced to remain in
office. The difficulties of the state were at that time so great that
the
VolksraadVolksraad in December 1858 passed a resolution in favor of
confederation with the Cape Colony. This proposition received the
strong support of Sir George Grey, then governor of Cape Colony, but
his view did not commend itself to the British government, and was not
adopted.[6]
In the same year, the disputes between the
BasothoBasotho and the Boers
culminated in open war. Both parties laid claims to land beyond the
Warden line, and each party had taken possession of what it could, the
BasothoBasotho being also expert cattle-lifters. In the war the advantage
rested with the Basotho; thereupon the Free State appealed to Sir
George Grey, who induced Moshoeshoe to come to terms. On 15 October
1858, a treaty was signed defining the new boundary. The peace was
nominal only, while the burghers were also involved in disputes with
other tribes. Mr. Boshoff again tendered his resignation in February
1859 and retired to Natal. Many of the burghers would have at this
time welcomed union with the Transvaal, but learning from Sir George
Grey that such a union would nullify the conventions of 1852 and 1854
and necessitate the reconsideration of Great Britain's policy towards
the native tribes north of the Orange and Vaal rivers, the project
dropped. Commandant
Andries PretoriusAndries Pretorius was, however, elected president
in place of Mr Boshoff. Though unable to effect a durable peace with
the Basotho, or to realise his ambition for the creation of one
powerful Boer republic, Pretorius saw the Free State begin to grow in
strength. The fertile district of
BethulieBethulie as well as Adam Kok's
territory was acquired, and there was a considerable increase in the
Boer population. The burghers generally, however, had little
confidence in their elected rulers and little desire for taxes to be
levied. Wearied like Mr Boshoff, and more interested in affairs in the
Transvaal than in those of the Free State, Pretorius resigned the
presidency in 1863.[6]
After an interval of seven months, Johannes Brand, an advocate at the
Cape bar, was elected president. He assumed office in February 1864.
His election proved a turning-point in the history of the country,
which, under his guidance, became peaceful and prosperous. But before
peace could be established an end had to be made of the difficulties
with the Basothos. Moshoeshoe continued to menace the Free State
border. Attempts at accommodation made by the governor of Cape Colony,
Sir Philip Wodehouse, failed, and war between the Free State and
Moshoeshoe was renewed in 1865. The
BoersBoers gained considerable
successes, and this induced Moshoeshoe to sue for peace. The terms
exacted were, however, too harsh for a nation yet unbroken to accept
permanently. A treaty was signed at
Thaba BosiuThaba Bosiu in April 1866, but war
again broke out in 1867, and the Free State attracted to its side a
large number of adventurers from all parts of South Africa. The
burghers thus reinforced gained at length a decisive victory over
their great antagonist, every stronghold in
BasutolandBasutoland save Thaba
Bosiu being stormed. Moshoeshoe now turned to Sir Philip Wodehouse for
preservation. His call was heeded, and in 1868 he and his country were
taken under British protection. Thus the thirty years' strife between
the Basothos and the
BoersBoers came to an end. The intervention of the
governor of
Cape ColonyCape Colony led to the conclusion of the treaty of Aliwal
North (12 February 1869), which defined the borders between the Orange
Free State and Basutoland. The country lying to the north of the
Orange RiverOrange River and west of the Caledon River, formerly a part of
Basutoland, was ceded to the Free State, and became known as the
Conquered Territory.[6]
A year after the addition of the Conquered Territory to the state
another boundary dispute was settled by the arbitration of Robert
William Keate, lieutenant-governor of Natal. By the Sand River
Convention, independence had been granted to the
BoersBoers living "north
of the Vaal", and the dispute turned on the question as to what stream
constituted the true upper course of that river. Mr Keate decided on
19 February 1870 against the Free State view and fixed the Klip River
as the dividing line, the Transvaal thus securing the
WakkerstroomWakkerstroom and
adjacent districts.[6]
Diamonds discovered[edit]
The
BasutolandBasutoland difficulties were no sooner arranged than the Free
Staters found themselves confronted with a serious difficulty on their
western border. In the years 1870–1871 a large number of foreign
diggers had settled on the diamond fields near the junction of the
Vaal and Orange rivers, which were situated in part on land claimed by
the Griqua chief
Nicholas WaterboerNicholas Waterboer and by the Free State.[6]
The Free State established a temporary government over the diamond
fields, but the administration of this body was satisfactory neither
to the Free State nor to the diggers. At this juncture Waterboer
offered to place the territory under the administration of Queen
Victoria. The offer was accepted, and on 27 October 1871 the district,
together with some adjacent territory to which the Transvaal had laid
claim, was proclaimed, under the name of Griqualand West, British
territory. Waterboer's claims were based on the treaty concluded by
his father with the British in 1834, and on various arrangements with
the Kok chiefs; the Free State based its claim on its purchase of Adam
Kok's sovereign rights and on long occupation. The difference between
proprietorship and sovereignty was confused or ignored. That Waterboer
exercised no authority in the disputed district was admitted. When the
British annexation took place a party in the
VolksraadVolksraad wished to go to
war with Britain, but the counsels of President Johannes Brand
prevailed. The Free State, however, did not abandon its claims. The
matter involved no little irritation between the parties concerned
until July 1876. It was then disposed of by Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of
Carnarvon, at that time Secretary of State for the Colonies, who
granted to the Free State a £90,000 payment "in full satisfaction of
all claims which it considers it may possess to Griqualand West." Lord
Carnarvon declined to entertain the proposal made by Mr Brand that the
territory should be given up by Great Britain.[6] In the opinion of
historian George McCall Theal, the annexation of
Griqualand WestGriqualand West was
probably in the best interests of the Free State. "There was," he
stated, "no alternative from British sovereignty other than an
independent diamond field republic."[7]
At this time, largely owing to the struggle with the Basothos, the
Free State Boers, like their Transvaal neighbors, had drifted into
financial straits. A paper currency had been instituted, and the
notes, known as "bluebacks", soon dropped to less than half their
nominal value. Commerce was largely carried on by barter, and many
cases of bankruptcy occurred in the state. The influx of British and
other immigrants to the diamond fields, in the early 1870s, restored
public credit and individual prosperity to the
BoersBoers of the Free
State. The diamond fields offered a ready market for stock and other
agricultural produce. Money flowed into the pockets of the farmers.
Public credit was restored. "Bluebacks" recovered par value, and were
called in and redeemed by the government. Valuable diamond mines were
also discovered within the Free State, of which the one at
JagersfonteinJagersfontein was the richest. Capital from Kimberley and
LondonLondon was
soon provided with which to work them.[6]
Peaceful relations with neighbours[edit]
The relations between the British and the Free State, after the
question of the boundary was settled, remained perfectly amicable down
to the outbreak of the
Second Boer WarSecond Boer War in 1899. From 1870 onward the
history of the state was one of quiet, steady progress. At the time of
the first annexation of the Transvaal the Free State declined Lord
Carnarvon's invitation to federate with the other South African
communities. In 1880, when a rising of the
BoersBoers in the Transvaal was
threatening, President Brand showed every desire to avert the
conflict. He suggested that Sir Henry de Villiers, Chief Justice of
Cape Colony, should be sent into the Transvaal to endeavour to gauge
the true state of affairs in that country. This suggestion was not
acted upon, but when war broke out in the Transvaal, Brand declined to
take any part in the struggle. In spite of the neutral attitude taken
by their government a number of the Free State Boers, living in the
northern part of the country, went to the Transvaal and joined their
brethren then in arms against the British. This fact was not allowed
to influence the friendly relations between the Free State and Great
Britain. In 1888 Sir
Johannes BrandJohannes Brand died.[6]
During the period of Brand's presidency a great change, both political
and economic, had come over South Africa. The renewal of the policy of
British expansion had been answered by the formation of the Afrikaner
Bond, which represented the aspirations of the
AfrikanerAfrikaner people, and
had active branches in the Free State. This alteration in the
political outlook was accompanied, and in part occasioned, by economic
changes of great significance. The development of the diamond mines
and of the gold and coal industries — of which Brand saw the
beginning — had far-reaching consequences, bringing the Boer
republics into contact with the new industrial era. The Free Staters,
under Brand's rule, had shown considerable ability to adapt their
policy to meet the altered situation. In 1889 an agreement made
between the Free State and the
Cape ColonyCape Colony government, whereby the
latter was empowered to extend, at its own cost, its railway system to
Bloemfontein. The Free State retained the right to purchase this
extension at cost, a right it exercised after the Jameson Raid.[6]
Having accepted the assistance of the Cape government in constructing
its railway, the state also in 1889 entered into a Customs Union
Convention with them. The convention was the outcome of a conference
held at
Cape TownCape Town in 1888, at which delegates from Natal, the Free
State and the
Cape ColonyCape Colony attended. Natal at this time had not seen
its way to entering the Customs Union, but did so at a later date.[6]
Renewal of hostilities[edit]
In January 1889
Francis William ReitzFrancis William Reitz was elected president of the
Free State. Reitz had no sooner got into office than a meeting was
arranged with Paul Kruger, president of the South African Republic, at
which various terms were discussed and decided upon regarding an
agreement dealing with the railways, terms of a treaty of amity and
commerce, and what was called a political treaty. The political treaty
referred in general terms to a federal union between the South African
RepublicRepublic and the Orange Free State, and bound each of them to help the
other, whenever the independence of either should be assailed or
threatened from without, unless the state so called upon for
assistance should be able to show the injustice of the cause of
quarrel in which the other state had engaged. While thus committed to
an alliance with its northern neighbour no change was made in internal
administration. The Free State, in fact, from its geographical
position reaped the benefits without incurring the anxieties
consequent on the settlement of a large
UitlanderUitlander population on the
Witwatersrand. The state, however, became increasingly identified with
the reactionary party in the South African Republic. In 1895 the
VolksraadVolksraad passed a resolution, in which they declared their readiness
to entertain a proposition from the South African
RepublicRepublic in favour
of some form of federal union. In the same year Reitz retired from the
presidency of the Orange Free State. The 1896 presidential election to
succeed him was won by M. T. Steyn, a judge of the High Court, who
took office in February 1896. In 1896 President Steyn visited
Pretoria, where he received an ovation as the probable future
president of the two Republics. A further offensive and defensive
alliance between the two Republics was then entered into, under which
the
Orange Free StateOrange Free State took up arms on the outbreak of hostilities
between the British and the South African
RepublicRepublic in October 1899.[6]
In 1897 President Kruger, bent on still further cementing the union
with the Orange Free State, had visited Bloemfontein. It was on this
occasion that Kruger, referring to the
LondonLondon Convention, spoke of
Queen VictoriaQueen Victoria as a kwaaje Vrouw (angry woman), an expression which
caused a good deal of offence in
EnglandEngland at the time, but which, in
the phraseology of the Boers, was not meant by President Kruger as
insulting.[6]
In December 1897 the Free State revised its constitution in reference
to the franchise law, and the period of residence necessary to obtain
naturalization was reduced from five to three years. The oath of
allegiance to the state was alone required, and no renunciation of
nationality was insisted upon. In 1898 the Free State also acquiesced
in the new convention arranged with regard to the Customs Union
between the Cape Colony, Natal,
BasutolandBasutoland and the Bechuanaland
Protectorate. But events were moving rapidly in the Transvaal, and
matters had proceeded too far for the Free State to turn back. In May
1899 President Steyn suggested the conference at
BloemfonteinBloemfontein between
President Kruger and Sir Alfred Milner, but this act was too late. The
Free Staters were practically bound to the South African Republic,
under the offensive and defensive alliance, in case hostilities arose
with Great Britain.[6]
The Free State began to expel British subjects in 1899, and the first
act of the
Second Boer WarSecond Boer War was committed by Free State Boers, who, on
11 October 1899, seized a train upon the border belonging to Natal.
For President Steyn and the Free State of 1899, neutrality was
impossible. A resolution was passed by the volksraad on 27 September
declaring that the state would observe its obligations to the
Transvaal whatever might happen.[6]
After the surrender of
Piet CronjéPiet Cronjé in the
Battle of PaardebergBattle of Paardeberg on 27
February 1900,
BloemfonteinBloemfontein was occupied by the British troops under
Lord Roberts from 13 March onward, and on 28 May a proclamation was
issued annexing the Free State to the British dominions under the
title of
Orange RiverOrange River Colony. For nearly two years longer the burghers
kept the field under
Christiaan de WetChristiaan de Wet and other leaders, but by the
articles of peace signed on 31 May 1902 British sovereignty was
acknowledged.[6]
Politics[edit]
Divisions[edit]
The country was divided into the following districts:[8]

Demographics[edit]
An estimate in 1875: White: 75,000; Native and Colored: 25,000.[1] The
first census, carried out in 1880, found that 'Europeans' made up
45.7% of the population.[9] Bloemfontein, the capital, had 2,567
inhabitants.[10] The 1890 census, which was reportedly not very
accurate, found a population of 207,503.[11]
See also[edit]

Postage stamps and postal history of the Orange Free State
List of former sovereign states
Natalia Republic
Consulates of the Orange Free State
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property